A Sunday Express inquiry has found drivers and staff on First Great Western trains regularly take taxis home. At Didcot station, Oxfordshire, cab firms are used to driving rail staff as far as Worcester, 95 miles away.

One local commuter, who did not wish to be named, said: “If we are left stranded, we have to make our own way home at great cost and inconvenience, but not, it seems, First Great Western staff. It’s a scandal.”

First Great Western, which runs trains from London to Reading, Bristol, the West Country and South Wales, is among train firms which put up fares by an average of 4.3 per cent last week. Campaigners say season ticket prices have gone up by 50 per cent in the past decade and for the 10th year running they have increased by more than inflation. A First Great Western London-Oxford season ticket now costs £4,532, up 4.2 per cent or £184 from last year.

The last month has seen disruption on its network due to flooding and land slides, with hundreds of trains delayed or cancelled.

Commuters returning to work after Christmas suffered travel misery due to over-running Network Rail engineering works.

It’s a scandal

A local commuter

Last year First Great Western was nicknamed “Worst Great Western” after a Which? survey revealed fewer than half of travellers on Wales’s mainline railway route to London were happy with the service.

It was one of the worst performing franchises in the report, with only 48 per cent satisfaction. Rail bosses, including First Great Western’s chief executive Tim O’Toole, have been criticised for taking hefty bonuses despite imposing fare rises.

Mr O’Toole forfeited his bonus but is still set to earn share awards in 2013 worth nearly £1million.

First Great Western spokesman Dan Panes said cabs weren’t taken “willy-nilly”. He added: “All journeys by cab have to be pre-authorised.

“We don’t pay standard cab fares but get cheaper deals with agencies. Wherever possible we will move staff by train but this isn’t always possible at the beginning or end of the day.”